


Of Ocean Waves

by synfy



Series: Entwined [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Magic, Sailing, Sea Monsters, but badly bc the author has no idea how a ship works, fae!Janus, please read the other stories in this series first, seer!Patton, witch!Virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/synfy/pseuds/synfy
Summary: His uncle's blood isn't even dry on his hands when Remus leaves the capitol city, the city of his birth, a week before his coronation should have taken place. Not only is he a murderer, he's just killed the man who had been his Regent. There's no way he can be king now, but that's ok. It's more important that he finds his brother. He has unfinished business involving Roman, after all.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Series: Entwined [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1379818
Comments: 18
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

The blood wasn’t even dry on his hands yet when Remus made his way down to the docks. It was still early, not yet even dawn, so he had at least an hour before the body of his uncle would be discovered. It was a messy affair all around, but Remus didn’t intend to stick around long enough to see precisely how messy it would get. He had other people to see. Thanks to both his title and his reputation, he made it to the docks without being stopped by any guards, despite being practically covered in blood. At the end of the easternmost pier, _The Calliope_ was waiting for him. 

She was a beautiful ship, though rather small, and deceptively quiet. Her decks were dark, like every other ship in port, but Remus could see the shapes of her crew scurrying around in the rigging, absolutely silent. Her captain was Larry, an old friend of Remus, his father’s first mate, and the only man that Remus was sure he could trust. _The Calliope_ was bound for the islands to the north with a shipment of spices, fabrics, and timber as soon as dawn broke, and no guard would dare insult Larry by subjecting him to a random search. They’d sail away and, when the murder was discovered, Remus would be nowhere to be found. 

The gangplank was down when he reached the ship, and Remus carefully made his way up it. The waves in port were so small they barely deserved the name, but even the slight rocking of the deck under Remus’s feet put him a little more at ease. With a couple nods to the crewmen on deck, Remus headed for the captain’s quarters. The door opened as soon as he knocked, and he was ushered inside quickly. The door slammed behind him. 

“Remus, good to see you made it! Should I be expecting any trouble before we unmoor?” Larry’s wide face beamed at him, the old fondness plain on his face.

Remus shook his head. “Not a single guard even looked at me! It won’t be on my head if they decide you look suspicious.”

Larry laughed and, for a moment, Remus was transported back to better days. Before his mom had died, before his father had withdrawn, before his uncle had soured, before Roman had turned away from him. Back when he’d been learning to sail, his father and his brother and Larry there with him, ocean spray and a smile on his face. It only lasted as long as Larry’s laugh, though. 

“C’mon, lad, let’s get you cleaned up.” Larry said, casting an eye over his bloodied clothing. 

Remus followed Larry back to his private bathroom, a cramped room not meant for two grown men. There was a bucket of sea water and a change of clothes waiting for him. Larry held the bucket while Remus slicked his hair back and did his best to scrub the blood off of his hands and face. When his skin was mostly cleaned, Larry emptied the bucket down the toilet and helped Remus change out of his princely garb and into the simpler clothes of a sailor. 

“Thank you, Larry.” 

Larry frowned, and the expression brought out wrinkles in his face that gave away his age. “I’m sorry that it has to be like this, lad. I wish y’didn’t have to get your hands messy this way. Killing and hunting down family, even bad family, it’s a nasty business.”

Remus shrugged. “Someone’s got to do it. Might as well be me.”

The pity on Larry’s face was blatant, but he didn’t push it. “Why don’t you have a kip in my bed while we get out of here. Sun’s coming up and it’s getting time to head out. I’ll show you to your own quarters when we’re well away from land.”

Remus nodded. It had been a long night for him. He watched as Larry left, and bundled his old, bloody clothes into a ball in the basin. They would need to be disposed of at some point, but not yet. Not while they were still in port. 

Remus sighed and looked at the cabin door, then at the toilet in front of him. Well, it was kind of gross, but he’d gotten into a habit. He opened the lid and crouched down in front of it, the angle allowing him to see out the back of the ship to the ocean. It was dark and calm, the first rays of dawn not yet reaching around to the northern end of the ship. 

“Hey, Goddess.” Remus started, then hesitated. He’d never quite gotten the hang of talking to someone who couldn’t respond with words or expressions. “I’d say my usual piece about not knowing if you’re even listening to me but, well, I guess I know the answer to that now. Um, you probably know this, but I killed my uncle. So that bit is over with. I’ve left the kingdom in the hands of my cousin. He’s a good man, if young, and I know he’ll do well as king. I’m going to find Roman now. Not really sure if you care about that much, but I would appreciate fair winds and good sailing on the way there. Thanks.” 

He hesitated a moment longer, then closed the lid and stood up. That was definitely the weirdest way he’d ever done his habitual prayer to the Ocean Goddess before setting sail, but it was what he had. He wouldn’t risk Larry and his crew by allowing himself to be seen on deck before they were well out of sight of land. 

Sighing, Remus left the bathroom and fell onto Larry’s bed. The mattress was nicer than he’d expected. Very comfortable. Maybe the nap that Larry had suggested wasn’t such a bad idea. 

~*~

When Remus woke up, the captain’s quarters were very bright. The ship was rocking gently and sunlight was streaming in through the port windows. Unless they’d been turned around somehow and were no longer heading northeast, that meant that it was well into the afternoon. He’d been more tired than he’d thought. Although, he always slept better on a ship. 

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Remus left Larry’s quarters. The sunlight blinded him almost as soon as he stepped onto the deck, but his eyes adjusted quickly. As he’d thought, it was definitely afternoon. Looking around, he couldn’t see any sign of the spires of the capital, which meant they were at least four hours out of port. The sun was getting low to the horizon again, but they still had several more hours of daylight left. 

The sails were full and the deck had only a handful of sunbaked sailors actually working, the rest scattered around in the shade of barrels and overhangs, playing cards. Looking up, Remus could see a couple of men in the rigging and the crow’s nest, lounging and talking. Everyone seemed relaxed, and no one seemed to take much notice of him when he stepped onto the main deck and looked around in search of Larry. 

He found the captain on the aft deck of the ship, standing at the wheel and gazing out over the water with a look of deep contemplation on his face. It lifted a little when he saw Remus, and he motioned for Remus to approach. 

“Lad! Good to see that you’re awake. I’ve got some things I need to discuss with you.” Larry sounded serious, and Remus instinctually threw a glance behind them to a group of sailors who were engaged in a game of cards. Larry followed his gaze. 

“I know you want to be anonymous, but you know as well as I that’s not going to be possible on this ship.” 

Remus caught the eye of one of the women playing cards and looked away quickly. “Evidently not. _The Calliope_ is small to begin with, and you’ve hired a very large crew for what should be a routine trading venture. She’s absolutely packed with sailors. You know, I trust you with the details of this whole thing, but this isn’t what I thought we’d discussed.” Remus couldn’t help the bit of annoyance that leaked into his tone. 

Larry frowned. “What you’ve asked me to do is a difficult, dangerous thing. I’ll forever be loyal to your father, and you know I love you like my own son, but I do have the safety of my crew to think about. The North Sea is a dangerous place, and I won’t force these people to cross it without telling them why.” 

“So what, you’re just going to let everyone know I’m on board? I’m not exactly conspicuous, not after this.” Remus fought to keep his voice low, tugging at the newly-acquired white strand of hair at his forehead. “Next time we make port, anyone who goes ashore will know exactly who I am and what I’ve done. Word travels fast in this kingdom, Captain.” 

Larry’s frown deepened. “You know what, perhaps we should take this conversation inside. I’ll show you to your quarters.” 

Larry glanced back at the group playing cards and motioned for one of them. The woman that had met Remus’s gaze got up, an insignia on her uniform marking her as the first mate. “Need me to take the wheel for a bit?”

“Yes, thank you.” Larry nodded to her and led Remus down to the main deck, and to where the officer’s quarters were. 

They stepped into an empty room that looked like it should have gone to one of the higher ranking officers. Or, in this case, a crown prince. 

“I know you’re on edge, but please trust me. Let me explain my plan before you get mad.” Larry said, meeting Remus’s eyes steadily. “I’ve hired a big crew, yes. Before we next make port, I’ll call a meeting of the whole ship in the galley. I’m going to explain to them that we’ll be taking you across the North Sea with me and anyone who wishes to come. No one has to come if they don’t want to, and anyone who wants to leave the ship will get a letter of recommendation from me to secure them a good job on another ship. I’ll explain that they may hear things about you in port that they don’t like, but if any of them tells anyone that you’re onboard, then no one will be getting a recommendation. I’m hoping that, the more people are on board, the more will be willing to sail with us.”

Recommendations were the difference between employment and rejection on ships, and Larry’s held a lot of weight. As the first mate under the previous king on the royal ship, _The Dragon_ , any commendation from him was practically a guarantee of success. It was a hefty reward. Remus could only hope that it would outweigh whatever price was put on his head once they found out he’d murdered his uncle. 

“It’ll have to work, I guess. ” Remus took a deep breath. “Will I be working as an officer?” 

Larry hesitated, and shook his head. “I think it’s best that you don’t. Ship politics and all, having the crown prince aboard will make things strange for the members of the crew who haven’t been with me long enough to fully respect me. I know you’ve had good training, but this isn’t _The Dragon._ These sailors don’t know how to handle anything outside of the usual power structures.”

“That is fair.” Remus nodded. 

Larry was quiet for a moment. “I’d best get back to the helm.”

“Yes. Thank you.” 

Larry nodded, and left. 

Remus sat heavily down on his bunk. It sucked, absolutely sucked, but he knew Larry was right. He couldn’t be safe until they were crossing the North Sea, where no other vessel would follow them, and Larry’s plan was the best way to keep them from being stopped. 

Since _The Calliope_ had been in the capital’s port for a few days, the crew would have heard about his successful voyage to the Ocean Goddess’s sacred island, which was the requirement to prove he was worthy of being crowned king. They would have heard how he’d returned with a strand of his hair bleached white like the moon. Some said it was a sign of the Goddess’s favour, others said it was one of disapproval. Remus had heard the gossip arguing for both, and he didn’t intend to tell anyone which one was correct. Regardless, it meant that there wasn’t a soul on board who wouldn’t know exactly who he was. Sailors were notorious gossips. Even if only one crew member had seen him, it would have been enough for the entire crew to know. Much better that he walk about openly, and leave everyone to speculate on his reason for being on board than to allow rumours about why he was hiding being on board to fester. 

~*~

For the next few days, Remus wandered aimlessly around _The Calliope_. He took meals with Larry, his first mate Rebecca, and a few other officers. He hovered around Larry, told stories of Larry teaching him to sail during meals, and played up the crew’s theories that said he was on board because he viewed Larry as a father after the King had died. 

It was the best cover, because it had truth to it. 

He played cards with the crew, but was careful to not play too many games, or to beat anyone too soundly. He gave no orders, offered no assistance and generally did his best to stay out of the way. 

His quarters were nice, but smaller than he was used to. _The Dragon_ , being the royal ship, had very large quarters for all crew members, and the officer’s quarters on it had been the size of the captain’s quarters on _The Calliope_ . _The Dragon_ wasn’t made for trade or war, only for passage, though, so it made sense. Still, Remus certainly missed being able to stretch out in bed. 

There was only so much time he could take stuffed into the small room, so Remus found himself taking many strolls along the deck, or even wandering down into the cargo hold. The crew in charge of the hold didn’t generally seem to like him being there, but a couple of them seemed to care less than the others, so Remus timed his visits for when they were on shift. 

~*~

On the fifth day of sailing, Larry called a general meeting in the galley. 

“We’ve been making good speed, and we should be reaching the island of Helvi tomorrow. I’m going to need all hands to help unload the cargo hold as fast as possible once we make port, because I’m going to be heading right back out as soon as she’s empty, and as soon as you’ve all gotten paid.” 

At the mention of pay, there was a rousing cheer from the crew. 

“The job after this is going to be a tough one, and I won’t be forcing anyone to do it with me, however, anyone who does will be paid generously. Anyone who doesn’t want to will be left on Helvi with a personal recommendation letter from me, no hard feelings.”

The crew went deadly silent after those words, and the change in the mood of the room was obvious. Any sailor worth their salt knew it meant something serious when a captain offered up a deal like this one. Remus watched the crowd, and saw a few of the crew’s eyes jump to him quickly. 

“What’s the job?” One of the men called out. Remus’s gaze jumped to him, and immediately noticed the distinctive rope burn scars scattered along the man’s biceps. One of the men who worked up in the rigging. Whatever this man decided, to stay or go, would be important. Those who worked in the rigging often formed a kind of cohort, and would stick together. If he decided to leave, it meant they all would. 

Larry took a deep breath. “We’re going to cross the North Sea.”

There was a beat of silence, and then the galley exploded into shouting. 

“That’s impossible!”

“There are monsters!”

“The Goddess forbids it!”

“Why?”

“What the fuck?!”

A couple hundred voices rang out at once, then quieted down when Larry held up his hand. It took a few minutes for them all to quiet, but eventually Larry could speak again. 

“As you’ve all noticed, we have the Crown Prince Remus aboard. We are taking him across the North Sea to exile.” Larry paused and held up his hand again, silencing the shouts of his crew before they’d begun again. “That is what my next job is. I’m sure all other questions can be answered with gossip once we get to port. I will warn all of you, though. When we get to port, absolutely no one is to tell a single soul that Remus is on board until The Calliope has left. I will be leaving first mate Rebecca at the docks with everyone’s recommendation letters, and if anyone breathes Remus’s name, none of you will be getting a letter. Am I understood?”

There was a pause, and then Rebecca shouted, “Aye!”

The rest of the crew followed. 

“Dismissed.” Larry stepped down from the table he’d been on, and the crew members dispersed to their various duties. Larry and Rebecca approached Remus when the galley had mostly emptied. 

“Thank you, both of you. I’m guessing I should stay out of sight until we leave Helvi tomorrow?” Remus asked.

Larry and Rebecca shared a look, and both nodded. 

“I just hope the plan works.” Rebecca said, her voice heavily accented with the language of the eastern islands. “If I do not see you again before Helvi, then fair winds, my prince.” 

She turned and left, and Larry looked after her with some regret. 

“I’ll walk you back to your quarters.” Larry offered. Remus nodded. Probably for the best, after that announcement. 

“Will you be going back for her after you drop me off? She’s a good first mate.” Remus asked. 

Larry shrugged. “I’ll try to. If she decides to wait in Helvi, then I’ll gladly rehire her. With the money from this last job, though, she may very well be a captain herself by the time I return. She’s worked for me for years now, and I never see her going for a drink when we make shore. She’s got to be close to having enough. She’s the best first mate I could have asked for, though. I’ll miss her either way, but I don’t trust anyone else to hold the recommendation letters.”

They stopped in front of Remus’s door. 

“I guess I’ll see you at dinner.” Remus said. 

Larry nodded. “And after that, I’ll get you once we’re past Helvi.”

Remus stepped into his room, and Larry shut the door behind him. It would be a long two days before he left again, but if he could get through this, he’d be one step closer to finding Roman.

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978038/chapters/58265170#workskin)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small break in Remus's journey, while The Calliope unloads at Helvi

Remus’s room didn’t have any windows like Larry’s did, so he had no idea what time it was, no way to mark the passage of time. He was confined to his little room for the next two days, essentially, with nothing to do but think. 

He couldn’t help thinking back to the moment that, in all honesty, had started this whole _fucking_ mess. The moment he first realised what his uncle was capable of, was planning, the day that Roman left. 

  
  


~*~

  
  


“ _I know it bothers you, and it should! Why should he be king if he can’t even sail? I had the same issue, you know. I was always a better sailor than my sister, but she had the luck to be born first, so she got the crown.” His uncle said, sitting down at the empty table in a meeting room._

_As soon as The Dragon, Remus’s ship, had gotten back to the capital from their tour of the kingdom, he’d called Remus in to meet with him. At first, Remus hadn’t been sure why. Now, he knew it was a blatant grab for power. Roman would be crowned King soon, and his uncle would lose his position as King Regent. He wanted to keep his power, obviously, because if Roman were to disappear, he’d be able to keep his position as King Regent while Remus trained to take over instead._

_The worst thing about his uncle’s whole speech, was that Remus actually agreed with some of it. He didn’t have the political training that Roman had, sure, but it was undeniable that he was the better sailor. Roman had been captain on The Dragon, but only in name. He’d never once given orders, not real ones, only shouted out impressive commands to pull away from docks at the end of their visit to a particular island. He’d never slept in shifts with the rest of the crew, never played a game of cards with them, he never even ate in the galley. Roman had spent his time studying and playing at being King for crowds, while Remus had become an actual sailor. He’d been the first mate of The Dragon, in name and in practise, and he’d loved it._

_He didn’t want to be too harsh on his brother. He knew, without Roman ever breathing a word of it, that his brother was deathly terrified of deep water and storms. He had been ever since their mom had died. He couldn’t blame Roman for it, exactly, but his uncle was right. Roman would never make a good ship captain, not like he would._

_And, yes, he also couldn’t deny that he’d felt the stirrings of jealousy every time they made port and people poured out to cheer for Roman. Roman had always looked so good, especially next to him. Remus had always been more pale than Roman, had always had darker hair. Even when the sun darkened his skin and lightened his hair, it was never by very much. By contrast, even the little amount of sun that Roman had gotten during their tour of the Islands had done miracles for him, and he very much looked the part of the Captain-King. It was fully maddening._

“ _What exactly are you trying to say to me?” He finally spit out, aware that he’d taken a bit too long to answer._

“ _I’m saying, I’ve seen you gut a fish. Hell, I’ve seen you gut a shark. I know you’ve got it in you. If something were to happen to your brother, well. I would support you. I think you’d make a great king.” His uncle smiled, and it was a sickly thing._

_Remus was about to answer, but then he heard a crash in the hallways. He looked to his uncle quickly, and found the horrible grin still there. Roman must have overheard. He’d think Remus was in on this scheme. Was it part of his uncle’s plan? Remus didn’t know._

_He fled the meeting room, taking off after his brother. He wasn’t sure what he’d say if he caught up to Roman, but he had to try. He knew one thing with absolute certainty. Remus would not kill his own brother._

_Unfortunately, his legs were still somewhat shaky from being back on land. He’d always had a more difficult time losing his sea legs than gaining them._

_He tripped and fell just as he turned a corner, and Roman managed to slip away. Remus told himself that he’d just track his brother down in the morning and tell him. Roman usually ended up at the dog kennels. He could just wait for Roman there._

_The next morning, Remus made his way to the kennels, and found no sight of his brother, and a missing dock. When the report came in later that day of a stolen sailboat from the docks, Remus knew what had happened. Roman had run away._

_His uncle came to congratulate him at dinner time._

“ _I wasn’t sure if you’d manage it. I can see I misjudged you.” His uncle was still smiling, and Remus hated it. “Will I need to make any preparations for a body to show up?”_

_Remus said nothing, just stared his uncle down. He wasn’t actually angry, he found, not quite. He felt rather... calm. Like the sea before a lightning storm. Flat and smooth on the surface, with violence waiting just below._

_His uncle seemed to sense this, somehow, and his grin went stale. “Very well. I suggest we wait a week, then officially make you Crown Prince. We can begin your training then.”_

  
  


~*~

  
  


A knock on the door startled Remus out of his musings. He was abruptly aware of the gnawing in his stomach. He rolled up from his bunk and answered the door, happily accepting the food that was offered to him by Rebecca on the other side. He nodded to her in thanks and she nodded back. Apparently that was all she intended to interact with him, because she then spun on her heel sharply and made her way back above deck, presumably to finish her own meal. 

Remus sighed and shut his door. It would have been nice to have some actual human interaction. Oh well. It probably wouldn’t do well for the crew to see her fraternising with him. 

Remus sat back down on his bunk with his food. It was pretty good, as usual. Remus wondered idly if they’d stocked enough at the capital to last their trip across the North Sea. If not, they could probably do some fishing along the way. That would be a risk, though. The North Sea was a perfect personification of the darker sides to their beloved Ocean Goddess. Deeper, colder, more turbulent. Full of monsters and unforgiving of mistakes. And powerful. 

Remus’s fingers found the strand of white hair above his forehead. Proof of the Goddess’s power, and the only reason he felt confident enough to even try this. 

  
  


~*~

  
  


_When Remus turned twenty-one, he began his second tour around the kingdom on The Dragon. This time, the tour was for him, and he was captain. Being older and more familiar with the gossip of the sailors, Remus had picked up the politics and policies a bit more quickly than Roman had, so he didn’t need to spend the voyage studying. He was a proper captain for The Dragon._

_Larry wasn’t there, having gotten his own captaincy, so his first mate was some woman whose name he barely remembered. Their relationship had been good, if formal and impersonal. The tour went well. It felt nice to have people cheer for him. However, lurking in the back of his mind, he remembered what had happened after his first tour. When he returned to the capital, Remus knew he’d have to be on guard for his uncle. Given what his uncle had suggested the last time he’d been in danger of losing his position as King Regent, Remus couldn’t be too careful._

_Since then, his uncle had revealed that he had an illegitimate son. The boy was younger than Remus, maybe sixteen at most, but his uncle had claimed the child and was clearly grooming him for a life at court. Technically, his cousin did have a claim to the throne, being of the royal bloodline. If his uncle decided to kill off Remus, he could simply install his own child as the next King, if not outright claim the title for himself._

_When they returned to the capital, Remus slept with one eye open and a fishing knife under his pillow. But, as the week wore on and preparations were made for Remus’s pilgrimage to the Goddess’s isle, nothing happened. His uncle didn’t call any secret meetings with him, no one tried to attack him in his sleep, no poison was slipped into his food._

_However, that didn’t mean that Remus let his guard down. The night before he was set to depart, he snuck down to the kitchens. Nothing had happened so far, and he wanted to make sure the trend held. The kitchen staff let him in immediately, and he was taken to the head cook on the night shift. He let the cook walk him through the provisions that were being packed for his pilgrimage, and Remus asked to be able to inspect the provisions. If the cook found his request weird, they didn’t mention it. Instead, they motioned for one of the staff to take Remus to where they were storing the food pack. A boy about Remus’s age appeared from somewhere in the back to assist, and brought Remus to the cellar._

_The food in the pack seemed fine, no obvious way to tamper with it. When he was done checking it, he looked up and got his first full view of the face of the young man who’d been helping him. The man looked familiar, and it took Remus a moment to place exactly why._

_This man was the member of the kitchen staff that Roman had carried on a not-so-subtle association with, so to speak. Remus had walked in on Roman and this lad more than a few times by accident when their bedrooms had still been adjoining._

“ _You used to see my brother.” Remus said, before he’d really thought about it._

_The man tried to hide his surprise, but did it badly. “I don’t know what you mean, captain.”_

_Remus rolled his eyes. “Don’t play stupid, you’re not in any trouble. I know you used to have a fling with Roman.”_

_The man shifted. “Um, yes.”_

_He looked so damn anxious that Remus couldn’t stop himself from scoffing. “I know he left, and I know he had to get food from somewhere before he ran away. Did you help him?”_

_Clearly, the man had no idea what to say to that. Remus could practically see him thinking, trying to figure out what he could say without drawing Remus’s ire. The answer was plain on his face._

“ _Good enough. I can see he absolutely did come through here, and you helped him. Did he tell you why he was leaving?”_

_The man nodded, beginning to look scared._

“ _And have you told anyone else about him?”_

_The man shook his head._

_Remus sighed and glanced around, grateful they were in a cellar. “All right, that’ll have to do to prove your trustworthiness. Listen to me now. My uncle, which I’m sure my brother told you about, was the one driving that plan. I was not involved in it. Understood?”_

_The silly kitchen boy let out a sharp breath and looked utterly relieved. “You weren’t?”_

“ _No, of course not. I’m not going to kill my own brother, I’m not a damn monster. My uncle is the monster.” Remus hissed. “I suspect he’s going to try to do much the same to me. If he does, I may need to go find my brother, wherever he is. Did Roman tell you anything about where he was headed?”_

“ _The North Continent.” The man said, instantly._

“ _Are you sure?”_

“ _Yes.”_

_Remus could barely believe what he was hearing, but it made sense at the same time. It was precisely the kind of stupid, reckless thing that Roman would think was a good idea. He could practically hear his brother’s voice in his head, proclaiming his silly, dramatic plan to be the only choice he had._

“ _You don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, you understand?” Remus looked the kitchen boy dead in the eyes. The boy went pale again and nodded. Remus left him in the cellar._

  
  


_The next day, Remus set out in the ceremonial sailboat to head to the Goddess’s isle. The boat was in surprisingly good condition, given how old it was. Remus couldn’t find any leaks or dangerous weak points in it that might suggest tampering. He’d packed the food, and his own fishing gear, so everything looked good. He still had his knife tucked into the waistband of his linen pants, where it was an invisible comfort to him. At sunrise, he set sail with favourable winds._

_By midday, the winds had died down and he’d been forced to do some rowing to make up for it. He drank a bit of his water, stuck a piece of hardtack in his mouth, and stripped off his shirt. The sun beat down on his back, but he found that he didn’t mind it at all. His arms were aching from the strain shortly, and Remus lamented the days of his childhood that he’d spent climbing about in the rigging like a little hairless monkey. His arms hadn’t been so weak back then._

_At sunset, he still wasn’t in sight of the Goddess’s isle. The winds were starting to pick back up, but it was a bit too late. Once the sun vanished, it’d be harder for him to navigate. He’d trained as a captain, not a navigator, and he wasn’t as familiar with the stars this time of year. He decided it would be best to drop anchor and sleep for the night, that way the winds wouldn’t blow him unknowingly off course. He used his shirt as a pillow and curled up in the bottom of the sailboat. It was a new moon, and the sky was an inky black dotted with stars that barely reflected off the water. Between their gentle winking and the lapping of the waves, Remus drifted off into an easy sleep._

_The next morning, Remus pulled the anchor up and set sail once more. The winds had held through the night, but he didn’t think they’d moved much, which was good. Sure enough, by midday he could see land again. As soon as he got close enough to make out features of the island he had approached, he knew it was the right one._

_He brought the sailboat up and nearly beached it, dropping anchor just below the low tide mark, then worked to bring all of his supplies onshore. The island was surrounded by the same lovely beaches that were everywhere along the western island, with soft, fine sand that was as white as the moon. But the center of the island was what made it so special. The middle of the island was ringed with tall, strong pines that were half a ship’s length in height. They stood like guardsmen around a deep pool of freshwater, a spring that carved a hole in the middle of the island and seemed to lead down to the depths of the ocean itself. It was within this ring of pines that Remus would have to make his camp for the night._

_Most of the day, though, he spent on the beach near his sailboat. He built a campfire of the fallen boughs of the pines, caught some fish, and cooked himself a decent meal of fresh meat for lunch and dinner. It would save him some jerky and hardtack for the next day, when he headed back._

_By sunset, Remus had caught more than enough to fill his belly. He kicked sand over his fire, secured his sack of food in his sailboat, and made his way towards the center of the small island. He considered leaving his knife in the boat too, but ultimately decided against it. Better to be safe._

_The Goddess’s spring was gorgeous. It was crystal clear, yet Remus couldn’t see the bottom at all. Ringed by limestone that kept the seawater from contaminating it, it seemed like a hole in the surface of the earth, one that led all the way down to the very heart of the ocean. It was nothing short of breathtaking._

_Remus kicked some sand on the edge of it around to form a little depression in the bank, and bedded down for the night. He didn’t have a pillow or a blanket, so he bunched up his shirt to put between his head and the sand. The sand was soft enough and still warm from the day, so it actually made a lovely bed. He closed his eyes and fell asleep easily._

_Some time later, he woke up. The night was still dark, only the light of the stars around him, so he didn’t initially know what had roused him. Everything was quiet, only the soft lapping of waves at the shore and a near-silent crunch of sand from somewhere behind him. It took Remus nearly a full second to remember where he was, and that there shouldn’t be anything crunching sand behind him._

_He rolled away just in time for a figure wrapped in light linen to swing a knife at him._

_The blade caught his arm, and slashed a deep wound. Remus scrambled backwards and managed to get to his feet in time to avoid another attack._

“ _Who the fuck are you?” He grunted. The other man said nothing, simply pressed forward._

_Remus had been trained in sword fighting, of course, as was expected of any sailor. His training was the only thing that allowed him to know how to move to avoid several more attacks, but the assailant simply pressed forward, taking any space Remus gave him. Remus considered himself a damn fine duelist, but it was clear that this man was on a whole different level. Remus didn’t have a sword anyway, and he wasn’t used to fighting in fine sand. From the way this man moved, Remus had no doubt that he was a professional mercenary, one of the men often employed in the western waters to help protect against rouge pirating ships. He was trained to kill._

_Remus jerked to avoid a lunge, and seized on the opportunity. The man had underestimated him, and overextended himself in the lunge. Remus grabbed the man’s arm and yanked, sending the man tripping forward. The knife stabbed into the sand, and the man followed it. He recovered better than Remus expected, though, and turned the trip into a tackle, his head crashing into Remus’s stomach. Remus went down with him, now trapped underneath his attacker. There was a flurry of limbs and fists, and Remus heard the man grunt as several of his punches landed, but then he felt the arm trapped between his back and the sand shift._

_His attacker moved slightly to the side, where they’d come up against the limestone edge of the Goddess’s pool. The hard surface had allowed him the leverage he’d needed to get his arm free, and Remus felt a sudden stinging ache in his stomach. He looked down in surprise, and was greeted with the sight of the knife handle protruding from his stomach. His attacker, his assassin, didn’t have any expression at all as he jerked the knife to the side roughly._

_Either the knife was sharp, or the mercenary was just incredibly strong, because it seemed to split Remus’s flesh easily._ _His intestines were a dark mass that spilled out of him like fish spilling out of a net. Faintly, he wondered if fish could see their own intestines when he gutted them._

“ _Nothing personal, kid. Just business.” His attacker didn’t get off of him, simply continued to straddle Remus’s legs while he watched his blood pour out. Maybe the man wanted to make sure Remus died. Wouldn’t want to leave a job half finished?_

“ _Who?” Remus heard his voice, but he wasn’t even aware that he’d thought of a question to ask, let alone actually said anything._

“ _King Regent. I never saw him directly, but there’s very few people who can offer the kinds of things he offered me in payment.” He didn’t seem bothered by telling Remus this. He didn’t have any cause to worry, after all. Gut wounds, especially ones as large as the one he’d delivered, were completely fatal._

“ _Huh.” Remus heard his own voice speak again. There was still a knife in his stomach. The sand around him was clumping with red._ _He considered himself a damn fine duelist, but it was clear that this man was on a whole different level._ _He… wanted his uncle dead. For this. For Roman. He wasn’t going to be able to do that. There was… nothing he could do. Almost._

 _H_ _e didn’t think at all as he pulled the knife out of his stomach. It didn’t even hurt, just was an odd tugging sensation. The mercenary didn’t react fast enough to stop Remus from slashing his throat. He gasped, choking on blood, and stared at Remus with wide eyes and he slumped off Remus, tumbling into the water._

_Remus watched the sacred water bloom red with blood and felt his eyelids grow heavy. Without considering why, he painstakingly rolled onto his side, entrails dragging after him, and let himself fall into the spring with the mercenary._

_The water was cool and comforting. He felt his eyes slip closed._

_The pain in his stomach flared up, then ebbed. It came back in waves, spiking and easing, until it felt like it was wracking his entire body._

_Remus couldn’t tell if it had been a second or hours when the pain finally seemed to be fading. He couldn’t even tell if it was actually fading or if he was just getting used to it. His thoughts were still slow._

_He felt the knife that had been clenched in his hand begin to slip from his fingers. When had he unclenched them?_

_The hilt left his fingers._

_Wait, no. He didn’t want to drop it. If that knife was going to kill him, he wanted to die holding it._

_Remus forced his eyes open. The water was dark and cloudy, but he could see the glint of steel. He swam down towards it._

_It was sinking faster than he could move. Everything hurt so much._

_There was a faint clink and Remus saw it had stopped on an outcropping of limestone. He could reach it. Maybe. If he just went a bit deeper._

_Something was pushing against him as he tried to get to it. The water itself was trying to force him away. Remus didn’t care._

_His fingers closed around the hilt._ _He wasn’t going to let go of it yet._

_He was so tired._

_The pain in his stomach spiked, so hard that Remus groaned. Air bubbles left his mouth and lungs, and cold water replaced them. Everything went dark._

_Remus drifted._

_His mother was there, but he couldn’t see her. He wasn’t sure it was her, actually. It sounded like her laugh, faint and bright, but there was something strange about it. Something harsher. Something more calming._

_There were fingers caressing his cheek. They drifted over his ear, and through his hair. Someone touched his forehead._

_The next thing Remus was aware of was light. He blinked his eyes open. It was bright, all around him, sunlight filtering through the air in lines and rays. No, that wasn’t right. Sunlight didn’t work like that in air. And he was floating. Remus knew he must be dead._

_And yet, looking up, he could see a bright circle of light that looked very familiar. Around him, pitted stone walls held small plants and snails. There was a knife in his hand, and a body far below him. The mercenary, dead on an outcropping, was the border of what he could see below, the last figure before a pitch black abyss. There was nothing to do but swim upwards._

_Remus didn’t realise he’d been breathing water until his head broke the surface. Sunlight reflected off pristine sand, blinding him while he choked and coughed, his lungs stinging like he’d inhaled fire. He blindly found the bank and pulled himself onto the sand, retching on air as his lungs emptied themselves of water._

_When he could see again, Remus realised that he was still on the sacred isle, and it was just barely morning. He looked back at the Goddess’s pool, and found that he couldn’t see more than a sailboat’s length into the water before it became too dark to see._ _He wasn’t dead. This wasn’t some sort of afterlife, he knew, because of the dead body he’d left in the sacred spring. No, he was somehow alive._

_The sunlight spilled across the water and Remus suddenly became aware of his reflection. His hair was slicked back on his forehead, dripping water down his back. And there, in the middle of his head, ran a white stripe about the thickness of two fingers. He reached up and found the strange, bleached hair. It felt completely normal, as thought it had always been that way. He pulled it down until he could just see it at the edge of his vision._

_It didn’t look anything like the sun-bleached strands that he saw in the hair of other sailors. It was as white as bone, as white as the moon, lying in bold contrast to his otherwise nearly black hair._

_Remus didn’t know what to think about it. So, he decided not to think at all. He was alive, he had the knife that should have killed him, and he was expected back at the capital by everyone except his uncle. His last hope before he’d died had been to kill his uncle, and now he could do just that. Remus headed to his sailboat without looking back._

_He pushed it out into the water and got in, his mind whirling with plans. He didn’t even notice the utter lack of wind that seemingly did nothing to slow his sailboat as he glided across the ocean._

_The last rays of sunset were slowly leaving the highest spire of the castle when Remus made it back to the capital. The guards were there to help him from the sailboat, and Larry._

_Larry was astonished to see him back so soon. Apparently, he’d only been gone three days, one of the shortest voyages ever made. Larry said nothing about his hair, or his lack of a shirt. He waved the guards off and followed Larry onto The Calliope for a quick conversation. Then he allowed the guards to escort him to the castle. He waved off all meetings and headed to his room._

_The first thing he did was lock every door he could find in his room, including all of the servant’s entrances._

_The next day, he washed himself and packed up a couple bags of supplies, what would be most useful to him in a search for Roman. He paid a messenger boy to deliver them to The Calliope, and gave the kid a few extra coins for discretion. Only after he visited the kitchen did he finally permit his advisers to meet with him, to confirm that he truly had gone on the voyage._

_He refused to tell them any details, but the white lock of hair on his forehead seemed to be proof enough. They said nothing of the fresh, red scar across his stomach. He allowed them to sycophantically simper about how his hair was proof of a divine blessing for a few minutes, then dismissed them._

_He didn’t bother making an appearance when they held a public announcement to confirm his coronation would be at the end of the week._

_That night, he waited until it was just after midnight. Then he left his room, and went to his uncle’s room. The guards outside his uncle’s door were confused, but how could they say no to their Crown Prince? He told them to leave, and they did. His uncle was asleep when he entered, but woke up when Remus slammed the door._

_His face paled when he saw his nephew, eyes flickering over his face and hair wildly._

“ _Remus! Ah, what brings you here at this hour? Couldn’t this wait until morning?”_

_Remus didn’t bother to make any flowery speeches, or say anything at all. The ocean did not make excuses when she took a life, and neither would he._

_His uncle struggled but, ultimately, Remus was younger and stronger. He didn’t bother to muffle his uncle. Who would hear? He slit his belly, just like the mercenary had done to him. But he also slit his wrists, neck, and thighs. Remus hadn’t just taken anatomy lessons from fish. He was royal, too, and he’d hunted his fair share of mammals in the forest. He didn’t leave any chance for survival._

_When his uncle finally stopped moving, Remus made sure he wasn’t breathing. He made sure his heart wasn’t beating, and that his tongue wouldn’t tell any more lies._

_The remains were barely recognisable._

_Remus turned, left the room, and then left the castle forever._

  
  


~*~

  
  


The next morning, Remus knew they’d pulled into port at Helvi. He woke to the sounds of heavy feet pounding overhead, unmistakable sounds of cargo being carried ashore. Now, it was down to a matter of hours. He knew the Goddess would let them cross the sea, so the success of his venture now relied entirely on them being able to leave Helvi unhindered. He was so close. 

All he could do now was hope that the same greediness of man that had started all of this wouldn’t fail him now.

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978038/chapters/58220992)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Larry make it to the north continent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact, this was supposed to be part of chapter 1 but then it got insanely long so I had to split it up

After some indefinable amount of time, the commotion of unloading finally ceased and Remus felt the ship begin to move again. He didn’t get up from his bed, knowing he’d have to wait until they’d gotten properly away from Helvi before it would be safe. 

Fortunately, he also knew that it wouldn’t be long. Once people realised they were headed into the North Sea, no one would risk following. 

The North Sea was deep open water, prone to hard storms and full of strange monsters. If the waves didn’t take you, the monsters would, and many believed that the Ocean Goddess herself had forbidden passage across it. 

Remus had believed that too, once, but now that he knew Roman had managed to cross it, he knew the Goddess would allow him to. He had her favour, after all. How could she not?

Remus felt the jerk of the ship beginning to pull away from the docks and he felt a swooping sensation in his stomach. He sat up on his bunk, and waited. 

It was an eternity before he heard a knock at his door. 

He jumped up, and opened it to find Larry beaming at him. “Helvi is setting on the horizon, lad. We’re out free.”

Remus let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Thank the Goddess. How many stayed on board?”

Larry’s smile didn’t waver. “Not many, but more than I’d dared to hope. We’ve got a full crew. C’mon.” 

Larry led him above deck and Remus sighed at the feeling of the sun on his skin again. There were definitely fewer people on deck, and no groups of idle sailors playing cards, but there wasn’t any struggle to work the sails that Remus could see. Up in the rigging, he spotted the man who’d spoken up yesterday, and a couple others hanging about in the crow’s nest and on other masts. 

“I do have a job for you now, though. It’s a bit unusual, but I think you’ll understand.” Larry motioned for Remus to follow him up to the aft deck. He pointed along the ship to the head, and Remus saw a woman standing by the prow of the ship, looking out over the water.

“I’ve decided to triple the watch.” Larry explained. “We’ve got the sailor in the crow’s nest, a sailor at the fore of the ship, and I also want one at aft. The sailor at fore will also take the port side, the sailor at aft will take starboard. I don’t want anything to be able to sneak up on us. Can you take the mid shifts?”

Remus nodded. The mid shifts started at midday and midnight, and were about four hours each. Personally, he was far more used to the 4 to 8 shifts that he would usually get as first mate, but anything was an improvement over what he’d been doing. At least now he’d be able to feel useful. Remus quickly glanced at the sky. 

“Well, Captain, it looks like I have a shift right now. I’d better get to work.” He smiled, and Larry looked pleased. 

“Yes, lad, you do. Good to have you as part of the crew again.” 

~*~

The next three days of their voyage were blissfully boring. By the second day of smooth sailing, a lot of the crew’s anxieties about sailing into the North Sea abated somewhat, and they started to relax around Remus. He thought that working alongside them probably also helped to warm them back up to him, but they were soon back to inviting him into card games and friendly gambling. 

Though Larry had said they’d gotten a full crew, it was still barely more than fifty men and women who had stayed on after Helvi, just over a fourth of what they’d had before. _The Calliope_ was designed to be able to be manned by only a small company of sailors, and that was what they had. Larry and the few officers didn’t bother eating in the captain’s quarters, instead joining with the crew in the galley. 

All things considered, Remus felt pretty good about their voyage so far. He hadn’t been caught, all of his watches had been uneventful, and they were set to reach the northern continent within two or three days, if all went well. 

Naturally, all did not go well. 

~*~

When Remus woke for his midnight shift at the beginning of the fifth day, he knew exactly what kind of trouble they were in. The ship was still in the water, only gentle rocking, and he couldn’t see anything outside of the wooden walls of his quarters, but he could smell it in the air. Underneath the usual ship smells of wood, sweat, hot pitch, and salt, there was a sharp tang. The scent every sailor learns to recognise. A lightning storm.

Remus hurried above decks and knew he was right. It should have been a bright night with a nearly full moon, but the only lights he could see came from the ship itself, bobbing lanterns as men raced around to secure the sails and the ropes overhead. The cloud cover from the oncoming storm was already too thick overhead, and Remus could see how smooth the water had gotten, like glass all around them. When this storm broke, it would be a bad one. He hurried to his post at the aft of the ship, sharing a terse nod with the man at the wheel. 

The first thing to start was the thunder and distant lightning. It was in the distance, just before the horizon, flashes of light that illuminated the too-still sea. A quiet rumble so faint that you’d miss it if you breathed at the wrong time. Then, the winds began to pick up. Gusts at first, light sighs from the clouds, then heavier winds that tilted lanterns and blew cards out of coat pockets. 

The rain came next, quickly crescendoing from a light mist to a stout drizzle in a few minutes. It wasn’t blinding, not yet, but it slanted as the wind continued to pick up. The lightning creeped closer and began to leap out of the clouds in dazzling arcs that hurt the eyes. 

The waves returned with a fury, and the stillness of the ship changed to a gentle rocking, to a more intense swaying. It wasn’t bad yet, something any experienced sailor could sleep through, but it was getting there. The wind began to howl, and the rain started to come down in sheets, near blinding. 

Then, a bolt of lightning leapt down and struck the sea, cracking with such fury that it left Remus half-deaf. With the light of the charged clouds, Remus watched in horror as the sea began to roll and boil where the lightning had struck. Something smooth and wet began to emerge, rising above the sea. All around it, tentacles whipped the air, and Remus saw the edge of one massive, pale eye rise above the waves. 

“KRAKEN!” He had no idea if anyone could hear him, but he had to try. Someone must have, though, because he heard echoes of his cry scattered around the ship. 

The rain came down hard, and crew members flooded the decks. The wind blew harder, and the ship began to pitch from side to side. 

Remus looked for the kraken, but it had vanished from where the lightning had struck. Or so he thought, until he saw motion out of the corner of his eye. Spinning, he saw the silhouette of a tentacle slap down into the water off the port side of _The Calliope_ , sending water crashing over the deck. One woman was nearly swept overboard, only just barely caught by a man who’d wrapped himself in a spare bit of rigging. He saw the tentacle raise again and he knew they had to do something to stop the kraken, or they’d all be headed straight for Davy Jones. 

Remus had no idea how to stop the monster, though. It was easily half as big again as _The Calliope_ , and they were unarmed anyway. But they were as good as doomed if they didn’t figure out something. 

The lightning illuminated a tentacle in the air, and Remus barely had a moment to inhale before water crashed into his side, icy and stinging. He managed to grab ahold of a railing to avoid being swept overboard, but he heard cries from below. The next flash of lightning showed a man panicking in the rolling waters below, a few other crew members trying to toss him a rope while avoiding being thrown over themselves. 

Remus didn’t think for a moment. He let go of the railing and threw himself down to the main deck. 

“I’ve got him!” He shouted, struggling to be heard over the wind. Their faces were dark blurs in between flashes of lightning, but he knew they understood what he’d said when he grabbed the railing and hurled himself overboard, rope in hand. 

The rope ran out just after he hit the water and he released it, letting his body go limp in the force of the currents. Once he’d slowed enough, he opened his eyes and looked around, struggling to see through the dim waters. The cold made his eyeball ache, but he ignored it. When lightning flashed, he realised he’d been thrown underneath the ship. Shaking his head quickly, Remus readied himself and _inhaled_. It was just as weird as it had been the first time, but he didn’t have time to contemplate that now. Instead, he looked around and began to swim towards the starboard side of the ship, where the man had been tossed off. As he swam, his eyes adjusted somehow until he could make out shapes in the water. Another part of the Goddess’s blessing. Deep below him, he could see more of the kraken’s tentacles twisting through the water. He looked up to the surface, scanning for the crew member who’d fallen over, and found the man struggling to tread water just out of reach of the ship. Remus quickly swam up and fought not to cough when his head broke the water. The air tore through his lungs like gravel, but he kept himself upright as he helped the struggling sailor above water. 

They swam in tandem towards the hull of the ship, Remus fighting the currents that tried to drag them under with every stroke. The rope hung limp, and Remus could see the dark heads of the other sailors in the flashes of lightning, scanning the water to look for them. Remus handed the man the rope and gave it a tug. He didn’t bother to watch the man be pulled back above before he turned and dove back below the ship. 

His lungs, oddly, felt better once he sucked in a lungful of water. Underneath the ship, the currents weren’t quite as strong, as long as he avoided getting too close to the keel. He stared at the kraken for a couple of seconds before an idea started to creep into his head. It made no sense whatsoever, but it wasn’t like he had a better plan. He’d have to trust in the Goddess for this one. 

“Lady of the Seas, please help me now.” Remus closed his eyes and spoke aloud. He barely registered the sound of his own voice, which should have been impossible underwater, and began to swim directly towards the eye of the kraken. 

When the kraken saw him coming, all of its tentacles fell away from the side of the ship and it began to turn. Faster than should have been possible, Remus found himself inside a massive cage of tentacles, facing down a chitinous, snapping beak. The mouth of the Kraken. 

He rolled and moved, slipping between the tentacles, and didn’t bother contemplating how he shouldn’t have been able to swim that fast. He kicked harder, and sped towards the massive eye of the beast. 

At the last minute, he felt a tug somewhere behind his ribcage, and changed course. 

Instead of spearing through the kraken’s eye, he floated gently up to the space between its two eyes and closed his own. He put his hand out, feeling the slick flesh of the beast underneath his fingers. 

It was impossible to describe what happened after that but, when he pulled his hand away, the kraken disengaged from the ship and sank back into the depths. It wasn’t dead, simply disinterested. Above the water, the storm still raged, but the ship was no longer being thrown about by the kraken’s might. Remus tried to swim back to the rope, but his limbs felt like lead. He made it underneath the hull before darkness overtook him and he sank back into the ocean’s embrace. 

~*~ 

Remus woke up feeling warm and loved. He was back in his room, he was sure, and his mother was stroking his hair. He could feel her fingers brushing against his scalp, familiar and soothing. 

“Mmm, mom, I don’t wanna get up yet.” He mumbled, and tried to roll over. 

Faintly, he heard the sound of a woman’s laugh, and realised that nothing had changed when he’d rolled over. He couldn’t feel any pillows pressing into his cheek, nor could he feel the weight of his heavy blanket. He blinked his eyes open into a quiet darkness, and realised where he was. 

He was still floating in the water underneath the ship. 

Hesitantly, he raised a hand to his head, but found nothing in his hair. Looking up and around, he realised it was still very dark. The surface seemed calmer, though. The storm must have abated while he’d slept. Dawn shouldn’t be far off. With nothing else to do, he swam for the surface. 

The rope wasn’t there, of course. They’d likely written him off as dead as soon as he’d gone underneath the hull. Grimacing, Remus broke the surface and began the painful process of re-introducing his lungs to air. Once he’d finished coughing, he began to shout as loudly as he could. It tore at his sore throat, but he didn’t have many other options. Fortunately, all his noise quickly attracted someone on board, and he heard the shouts of “man overboard” ring across the deck. A rope was dropped into the water for him, and he fastened it across his check with shaking fingers, before giving it a tug to signal them to pull him up. 

When he was finally hauled onto the deck, he collapsed in a sore pile of coughing. A small group of crew members stared at him in open shock, their faces illuminated by lanterns. Remus managed to give them half a salute before he passed out again. 

~*~

When Remus next woke, he was in his quarters again. Every part of him ached, from his arms to his lungs to his ankles. He sat up and his head spun with the motion. Hanging from the post next to his head was a canteen, and Remus grabbed it and took a deep drink from it. After a few minutes of sipping water, he started to feel better, and he got up. 

It was daytime when he reached the main deck, nearly midday, in fact. He started to make his way blearily to the aft deck for his watch shift when he looked over the side of the ship and realised that they were actually moored off the coast of some island. 

Remus stared at it, and realised several things at once. For one, the air was cooler than it had been. The sun was out, only a few scattered clouds in the sky, but the air no longer seemed to shimmer with heat like it always did. 

For another, the island that they were moored off the coast of was massive, far bigger than Helvi or even the capital. The trees on the island were also strange. Remus was used to big, bushy oaks and slender palms, even a few stout pine trees. This island’s trees looked a bit like pines, but were absolutely massive. The were wider and taller by far than The Calliope’s main mast, and the spaces in between these giants were filled with thin toothpicks of trees that were, impossibly, even taller. 

But these trees were dwarfed in comparison to the mountains that loomed just off the shore, rising up into wisps of clouds and bald, rounded tops. 

“The storm last night pushed us further north than I’d dared to hope.” Larry’s voice came from beside him and Remus jumped. 

Larry chuckled. “Sorry, lad, didn’t mean to startle you. You took a hell of a swim last night.”

Remus rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, sorry to startle some of your crew like that. Is that other man ok?”

“Oh, he’s recovering just fine.” Larry frowned. “Remus, how in the name of the Goddess did you survive that storm? You jumped overboard, saved one of my crew, and then disappeared for hours. Between the storm and the kraken, you should have died.”

“The Goddess just likes me, I suppose.” Remus shrugged. 

Larry scoffed. “There’s not a soul on my ship who will doubt that anymore.”

They stood in silence at the railing for a few moments. 

“Is it time for me to go?” Remus asked eventually.

“Yes, it is.” Larry sighed. “C’mon, I’ll help you fill up a skiff.”

Larry brought him down to the cargo hold, which had mercifully remained largely dry despite the storm. He tossed a bulging pack to Remus, a heavy sack of food and water, and a long tube of boiled leather that Remus knew contained his bow. He followed Larry back up to the deck, where one of the lifeboats had been untied and readied to drop into the water. 

Remus gave a nod of thanks to the crew members who had helped, and tried not to feel too sad by the way they refused to meet his eyes. He put his supplies into the little boat, and released the pulley to lower the boat into the water. With Larry’s help, he tied a rope ladder to the side of _The Calliope_ and took a deep breath. 

“Thank you, Larry.” He said softly. 

Larry blinked, and his eyes shone with tears. “Damnit, lad, I’m going to miss you.”

Remus didn’t resist when Larry swept him into a fierce hug. 

“I’m going to miss you too, old man. You be careful on your way back, and I’ll pray to the Goddess for you.” Remus tightened his arms around Larry.

Larry pulled away after a few more seconds and blinked his tears away. “Oh, don’t you worry about me and my crew. We’ll be just fine. You just make sure you find that brother of yours.” He clapped Remus on the back and watched as Remus made the descent into the boat. 

Once he was properly in the boat, he tossed the extra slack on the ladder out and pushed away from the hull with an oar. Looking up, he could see Larry and, behind him, the men up in the rigging already preparing to set sail. 

Halfway to shore, he heard the distinctive clanking of the anchor being pulled up. Off the starboard side of his skiff, way out in the distance, Remus thought he could see the looping coils of a sea serpent rising above the water. 

“Goddess, please protect them on their voyage back. They only came out here because of me. I’ll happily give up my blessing if it means they can return safely.” Even as he spoke the words, Remus knew that the Goddess would not be taking back her blessing from him. And, even if _The Calliope_ made it back to Helvi safely, they could still face charges from the crown for helping him. But, just this once, Remus would rather they stood in a human court than be subjected to the wills of the sea. 

When Remus reached the shore, _The Calliope_ was already turned around and sailing away. 

~*~

The shore he’d landed on had been the only spot he really could have landed at. The mountains framing the coastline meant that much of the land met the ocean in sharp, tall cliffs. The shore where he’d landed was really the only place where the earth sloped enough to accommodate him. Fortunately, that meant that he also had a somewhat clear view up the mountainside to what he hoped was a pass. Two especially tall peaks rose up on the port and starboard side of him ahead, but there was a lower gap in between them that seemed promising. 

Remus regretted having to ditch the skiff very shortly after he began his trek up the side. Although the path to the pass was clear, the way was steep and rocky, and Remus found himself taking a strange sort of switchback trail that was marked by small cairns. The wind picked up as he climbed higher, and he had to pause to change into the spare clothes he had in the pack. 

The rough uniform he’d worn on The Calliope was still a little damp from his swim the previous night, and was designed for the hot climate of his kingdom. It let the wind through gladly, and was wholly uncomfortable now. He stripped out of it and put on both of the sturdy linen shirts, the both pairs of pants, and wrapped himself in the wool cloak he’d packed. He put on the boots he’d brought, and scrunched up his nose at the strange feeling of wearing shoes again after two weeks of being barefoot. His pack was mostly empty then, so he stuffed his sack of food and water into it and slung it back across his back.

The clothes made it much more comfortable, but he could still feel the air nipping at him, especially when night began to fall. Just before sunset, he found a jut of rock at the base of one of the thinner trees, that had a hollow space underneath it. He checked the den for signs of previous occupants, but he didn’t find any fresh tracks or scat. Remus set about gathering what wood he could find for a fire, and managed to build up a decent flame. Fortunately, the odd pines here were similar enough to the pines in the royal forest back at the capitol that he was able to use dead needles as easy kindling. He’d had the foresight to pack flint and steel and, with a few clicks, was able to spark the dry needles into a campfire he could be proud of. 

He didn’t need to try his hand at hunting, thankfully, since he’d packed enough food to last him a couple of days. He’d seen almost no signs of animal life on this side of the mountains, oddly enough, so he’d have to hope that his food would last until he made it over the top and could find something on the other side. 

Remus pulled a few strips of dried and salted meat out of his pack and ripped off a chunk with his teeth as he watched the sun set over the water. It was cold, but beautiful. There was no sign of a green flash when it fell under the horizon, but Remus didn’t stick close to the mouth of the cave to lament that. He tucked himself behind the fire, against the warmed dirt and exposed roots in the back of the hollow. He hadn’t seen any animals outside, but he wanted to keep the fire between the outside and himself while he slept. He didn’t think that the mountain would be as forgiving of his sleeping body as the ocean had been. He left his sack of food and pack near the fire, just in case. If anything smelled it and decided that it wanted a piece, he’d rather it not maul his body to get at it. He curled up in his cloak, pulled his bow towards him, and tried his best to go to sleep. 

The next morning came quickly enough. Fortunately, nothing much looked to have happened during the night. His pack and food were undisturbed, though he did notice some odd tracks around the outskirts of his camp when he went to kick out his fire. It looked like something that had four legs and a dragging tail had investigated him during the night, but hadn’t gotten close. 

The tracks gave Remus a bad feeling, but he didn’t intend to stick around long enough for whatever creature made them to get any bolder. As soon as the fire was out, he grabbed a couple more pieces of dried meat and some hardtack from his food sack, stuffed it into his pack, and set off back up the mountain. 

By midday, he’d made it to the pass. Fortunately, it was actually a pass. The dip he’d seen between the two peaks was a long, smooth corridor about the width of a sailboat, not too wide, but plenty for him to walk. Unfortunately, this pass was clearly a construction of the wind, because freezing gales blew through it constantly, coming from the other side of the mountains and blasting past towards the sea. The passage wasn’t long, maybe a couple large ships in length, but it took Remus several long hours to make it through. By the time he got to the other end and staggered to the port side of the exit, out of the wind, he was exhausted and sore. 

He sank down to sit on the bed of iced pine needles and leaned against a rockface. He was through the pass, on the other side of the mountains. He felt confident that Roman had landed on the same shore that he had, all those years ago, and had followed the cairns up the mountain. He knew Roman must have crossed the mountains at this pass, simply because there was no other way to go. Looking down the mountain, however, he couldn’t see a clear trail. No more cairns, just icy trees and slick rock peeking out from between roots. It would be a treacherous descent, and made worse by the fact that Remus had no idea where Roman had gone from here. 

Looking around, Remus could see that the mountains curved around, making a sort of bowl around the valley below him. To the port side, the mountains got sharper and taller, and Remus could see dark clouds gathering on the other side of them, spilling over in sinister tentacles of rain and lightning. Roman hated storms, so Remus could probably rule out the west side of the vale. Looking right to the north, Remus could see the edge of the forest and what appeared to be some sort of massive beach. He couldn’t see water past it, but the land looked strange there. He recognised the signs of agriculture at the boundary, and guessed there was a town due north of him. It looked to be quite a ways off, several days by foot. 

The town would probably be the best place to look for Roman. However, that wouldn’t do him any good today. Looking around, he noticed a gap in the trees to the northeast. It was much closer than the town was, and he recognised the tell-tale signs of a lake there. That would be a good place to shoot for. Lakes, he could do. He could make a fishing trap out of nearly anything, and it would give him a place to refill his canteen. 

Remus stood up and began to carefully make his way down the mountainside. When he got about halfway down, he noticed a small stream. It was clear and cold, clearly melted runoff from the ice atop the mountain. He followed it down to where it joined with more runoff streams and eventually met a decently sized river. He knew the river must feed into the lake he’d seen, so he kept following it even as the sun fell lower into the sky. 

At last, close to sunset, he spotted the lake through the tree. It was beautiful, clear and deep and he could feel it calling to him in the same way the ocean did. He laughed out loud and ran along the river bank, until he burst out into the clearing and came to a screeching halt. 

There, along the banks of this beautiful, lovely lake, was a quaint little house. And, standing in front of it, were two men who stared at him in open shock and anger. One of them, the taller one, was Roman.

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978038/chapters/59831689)


	4. Chapter 4

Remus woke up before the sun came up. His head was still rather spinning from the events of the past few days. A lot had happened. The night that he’d first arrived, he’d finally gotten a chance to tell Roman his side of the story, finally gotten to explain to his brother that he never wanted to kill him. He’d also told Roman, and all his friends, about how he’d gotten the Goddess’s blessing. He hadn’t even told Larry that. He’d come in search of his brother, with no plan, and he’d found Roman and been given a place to live.

He’d gone to sleep that night on a crude mat of pine needles. It hadn’t been as comfortably as a hammock, but Remus hadn’t cared. The next morning, the two men whose house he had been sleeping on the floor of took him into the town he’d seen. They’d been answering his questions, which was good. He’d had a lot of them. He still had a lot, actually.

Remus had learned that they were Janus and Patton. Patton was the younger brother of Virgil, who was Roman’s new boyfriend. Janus was something called a “fae”, which Remus didn’t understand. Patton and Janus were something called seers, which Remus really didn’t understand. Patton knew the future, and Janus knew the past. Apparently it was a form of magic, and was how they’d known to stop Virgil from attacking him. Virgil, who also had magic. Having magic seemed to be a normal thing for these people? But only those who lived by the lake. Patton had told him that talking about magic was strictly forbidden in town, where Remus now lived. He hadn’t gotten full details on that yet. It had taken him the better part of two days to simply catch up on Roman’s life from the past few years and concoct a halfway decent backstory for the villagers.

Remus pulled himself out of the bed in the little cabin at the edge of the village, the tiny hunter’s shack that was now his. It felt nice to have a place that was his. He stretched his arms up over his head and let out a little groan before walking into the kitchen.

In the kitchen window, Remus had some fish hanging from yesterday’s fishing misadventures. He’d managed a crude fishing hook, and a crude lure, and a crude fishing spot. The river under the bridge leading into town didn’t have very many fish in it, and Remus doubted they’d be very good eating anyway, but fishing was what he knew how to do.

Of course, normally, he’d cure fish by packing them in salt and spices, neither of which he currently had access to, so he was trying a different method of curing them. He’d cleaned and scaled them, as usual, and was hanging them in the sun to dry. He’d brought them in overnight to keep bugs away. They probably wouldn’t be that good when they were done, but they’d keep for a little bit and letting the villagers see him fishing off the bridge probably helped the story they’d been told about him.

As far as the villagers were concerned, he was Roman’s brother, come to join him after their father had died. He was also a hunter, just like his brother, but he was better at fishing. None of it was strictly untrue, but it wasn’t the full truth, either. Roman had warned him not to talk about the Goddess here, though. He wasn’t really clear on why, yet.

Remus made himself a quick breakfast from the leftover scones that Patton had brought him yesterday, and resolved to head into town. It was what he’d done the day before, too. Woken up, gone into town, and sat on his ass all day in Patton’s bakery, pestering the man with questions. Lots of fun, for him.

He made it out the front door and halfway to the bridge before remembering that he was not, in fact, on a ship, and he did need to wear shoes. Remus turned around and went to put on his shoes.

The sun was bright over the mountains by the time Remus actually made it into town. When he’d left his little cabin, there had been an abundance of birdsong, and Remus kind of missed it by the time he reached Patton’s bakery. Apparently, the birds didn’t venture that far into town. Remus didn’t bother knocking on the closed shutters of the window that Patton conducted his business out of, and instead just went straight for the front door. Patton was a seer, he should know that Remus would be arriving. To Remus’s slight dismay, the front door was unlocked, so Patton had known he’d be coming.

“Hey, Rem.” Patton called, not even bothering to turn around from where he was busily stoking the oven.

“Hey, Pat. Is Jan sleeping?” Remus had decided to aggressively use nicknames for the couple, and they’d just gone with it. Remus suspected that Janus privately enjoyed it.

“Yeah, he started to drift off a little while ago. He got some sleep in around sunset yesterday, so hopefully he won’t be out all day.”

Janus, as Remus had learned, had spent a good long while under some sort of induced sleep. More magic stuff that Remus didn’t understand. Whatever had happened, he’d apparently been buried in some dark place while he slept and that made it difficult now for him to fall asleep in the dark. So he slept more during the day, instead. It was odd, but it worked. Patton had explained that Janus couldn’t really go out into the town during the day unless he wore a hood and didn’t talk to people. Remus didn’t quite know why, yet. Well, what better place to start his daily interrogation?

“Pat, how come Jan can’t go out into the town? Why isn’t he allowed to interact with any of the townspeople?”

“Starting early with our questions, are we?” Patton glanced over at Remus with a quick smile before turning to look at the stack of orders he had for the day. “It’s complicated. The thing you’ve got to understand about this town, about this kingdom, is that it’s not like the place you came from. It’s easy to travel by water. There are storms, sure, but you can carry anything you need for a journey in a boat. You need more supplies, more people, just take a bigger boat. Travel doesn’t work like that over land. The more people you bring, the more food you have to carry, and the longer it takes to get somewhere.”

Patton went to the pantry for the massive sack of flour that he kept in there. Remus watched the way his arms flexed as he lifted the massive bag up to a stool to get some of the flour out. He dumped it into a bowl and added water to it, before beginning to mix it around with his hands. “We’re a tiny little farming village, all the way out on the edge of an arid desert. The capitol is somewhere off to the southeast, your kingdom is off to the southwest. We’re far away from everything, and we have nothing unique to offer that would bring anyone here. We’re isolated. Nothing new ever happens here, and people get set in their ways, especially when no one challenges them. These villagers haven’t seen anything new in generations, and they’re scared to now. Janus isn’t like them, and there’s no way to hide that. He looks strange, he acts strange, he sounds strange. And he’s got magic, which they’re deathly afraid of. I’ve got magic too, but I can hide it. Even then, they don’t trust me enough to even walk into my bakery, because my brother has magic and they know about that.”

Patton scraped the dough off his fingers and set the bowl aside. He rinsed his hands off in a dish and turned to check the oven. He opened the door, stuck his hand inside, and began to hum a song quietly to himself until he snatched his hand back with a slight hiss. “Have I told you why Virgil lives out by the lake?”

Remus snorted. “You know that you haven’t. You also haven’t told me why I’m not allowed to mention my Goddess.”

“You’re right. But I’ve got to keep up the suspense, haven’t I?” Patton flashed him another quick grin and pulled a couple of bannetons to begin baking the bread he prepared the day before. “Lucky for me, this story answers both of your questions. When Virgil and I were much, much younger, a priest came to the village. It used to be a regular thing, you see. In this kingdom, they worship a Sun God. We live on the edge of a desert, where water is a treasure rather than a power, not like your oceans. These people don’t tolerate any slight to their god. Mentioning your Goddess would be seen as some sort of challenge to their God, as though somehow her existence diminished his power. Anyway, this priest of the Sun God came to the village, and he hurt people. Virgil knew about it, I knew about it. Virgil tried to correct the situation. He tried to kill the priest. It didn’t work, and the villagers found out about it quickly. The priest told them about his magic, and they nearly killed him. He was just a kid at the time, so our mom managed to get them to let him leave. Banishment, instead of death.”

Patton turned and used a long piece of wood to slide the uncooked dough into the oven, slamming the door afterwards with more force than was strictly necessary. “So now my brother lives out at the lake, which is the only place that he, Janus, or I can actually be ourselves. Roman and Logan, to a lesser extent. And you now, too. It- well. It’s fucking awful. But we have each other.”

“What happened to the priest?” Remus asked, stretching his legs out in front of him.

“Hm?” Patton lifted his chin but didn’t meet Remus’s eyes.

“The priest that you mentioned. The one Virgil tried to kill. What happened to him?” Remus sat up in his chair and put his elbows on the table.

“Wasn’t it obvious? Patton killed him.” Janus’s voice came from behind Remus, causing him to jump and swear.

“When the hell did you wake up?” Remus groaned. “Damn silent snake.”

Janus bared his fangs and hissed. “When you two started yelling about all of this and my dear Patton started slamming his oven door.”

“There’s a dirty joke I could make out of that, if I were so inclined.” Remus grinned at Janus’s little hiss.

“So glad that you’re choosing to spare us, let’s keep it that way.”

Remus shrugged. “For now. Anyway, let’s get back to the story at hand. Patton, you killed the priest? Didn’t know you had it in you. Janus, on the other hand...”

“Janus did assist me, but yes. I killed the priest. And I didn’t know I had it in me, either. I’m not sure I do, actually.” Patton said, clearly tense. He glanced up and made eye contact with Janus, who nodded.

“I’m going to go wash. Be back in a bit.” Janus lightly touched Remus’s shoulder, then disappeared back into the bedroom and shut the door behind himself.

“Remus, can I ask you a question?” Patton’s voice was quiet now.

“Yeah, of course.” Remus tilted his head.

“You killed your uncle. Was it hard? How do you deal with it?” Patton sounded so, so tired.

Remus hesitated, then nodded. He was pretty sure he understood now. “My uncle tried to kill me first. He did manage to kill me, actually. That was the final fish that broke the net for me, sure, but it wasn’t really about me. When my uncle had me killed, I realised that he actually would have gotten Roman killed. If Roman had stayed, and I’d refused to kill my brother, my uncle would have gotten someone else to do the job. If I’d stayed dead, my cousin would have succeeded me to the throne. Who’s to say that my uncle wouldn’t have eventually killed him, too? His own son? Hell, who’s to say that my uncle didn’t have some hand in my father’s death? I don’t know, I’ll never know, maybe he poisoned my dad. So, it wasn’t hard to kill him. Maybe I was in shock at the time from my own recent death, but I’m not in shock now and I still don’t regret it. He would have hurt other people if I hadn’t killed him, and now he can’t hurt anyone else. Simple.”

Patton looked pale. “You don’t think it makes you a bad person?”

Remus shook his head. “Nope. I protected some future victim of his by ending his life. And so did you.”

Patton let out a shaky breath. “You’re right. I just- excuse me.”

Patton ducked his head, slipped his apron off, and all but ran through his bedroom door. A moment later, Janus came out.

“We’re going to give him some time alone in there.” Janus sat down across the table from Remus. Remus started a staring contest with Janus, and quickly lost, despite declining to inform Janus of the contest.

“Well, I’ll answer your questions if you’ll answer mine. What do you still want to know?” Janus turned so that he was fully facing Remus. The morning sun made it easy to see the faint scale pattern on his face.

“Hmm, ok. How about, what are you, and why is my brother living with a bunch of animals in his house?” An easy bargain, Remus still had so many damn questions.

“Well, the second question’s easier to answer and probably more relevant.” Janus chuckled. “The night before your… arrival, Patton had a vision of Virgil finding his bloodied chicken coop in the morning. We’ve been spending a lot of time at the lake with Virgil and Roman, since they’re building us a house there, which means we’ve also spent a fair bit of time in the forest and we’ve noticed some signs of animal attacks. It makes sense, then, to assume that there’s some dangerous animal that’s roaming the forest causing this. There was also an incident with Patton, Virgil, Roman, and some other creature that had been terrorising this town, but that was before I woke up and that creature is dead now, regardless. Roman and Virgil are keeping their animals in their house while they construct a barn for the animals to stay in. If my estimates are correct, I think they’ll probably have the barn finished by tonight.”

Remus frowned. “What’s a barn?”

Janus looked momentarily confused, then let out a quiet chuckle. “In this case, it’s like a kennel or stable, but for other animals besides only dogs and horses. I suppose you probably wouldn’t have seen one before, since your capitol city was a trading center and not an agricultural one.”

“Huh.”

“As for your second question, it means I’m not human. Technically speaking, both Patton and Virgil aren’t entirely human either.” Janus ran his fingertips lightly down his face and Remus watched as the scale pattern flexed with his skin. “I’m fae, or a faerie, I guess. Perhaps the best explanation of what that means is to simply say that fae are the magical equivalent of humans, in the way that a cockatrice is a magical chicken, or a basilisk a magical snake.”

Remus blinked. “A what now?”

Janus looked confused for a moment. “Perhaps I should use an aquatic example. Like how a kraken is the magical equivalent of… I don’t actually know what a kraken is supposed to be like.”

“A squid? They’re basically massive squid.” Remus offered.

“Ah, yes. That works. Magical squid.” Janus seemed to have a difficult time pronouncing “squid”.

“Alright, so you’re a magical human. Except Virgil and Patton can both do magic, and they’re human.”

Janus shook his head. “No, they’re not totally human. Humans can’t do magic unless they’ve got a fae ancestor or something similar. Which technically would make them not fully human, but that’s not relevant. Virgil and Patton’s mother never married or took a lover, she instead used fae magic to conceive her children, which she was able to use because she became friends with a faerie who helped her.”

“That wasn’t you, right? ‘Cause that would make you technically Patton’s dad, which would be gross.”

“No, it was not me.” Janus glared at Remus. “According to Patton, he was a fae posing as a human merchant in order to roam freely. You’re right, though, he is effectively Virgil and Patton’s father, since his magic was used to create them. I’ve heard of children being created like that before, back before the Courts were sealed off and more fae interacted with humans, but I would think it’s much less common now. I’d be surprised if there were any other changelings- that’s what we call children created by magic but raised by human parents.”

“So there are more of you freaky snake people?” Remus wiggled his fingers teasingly at Janus and ignored the little hiss he got.

“Not all fae have serpentine traits, our physical appearances vary as widely as human physical appearances do.” Janus said delicately. “And, no. You’re not likely to meet more fae. I haven’t really talked to anyone about this other than Patton, but as far as I can tell, the Courts sealed themselves off into their Hollow Hills shortly after I was put to sleep. That would have been centuries ago, and while fae are longer-lived than humans, I doubt there were many who chose to remain in the human world if it meant giving up the Hills.”

Remus leaned forward. “Hold on, that’s a lot. The fuck are the hollow hills, who are the courts, what the fuck does that all mean.”

Janus looked mildly exasperated. “Fae have different cultures and groups, too. Our nobility and the people they serve are called Courts, instead of kingdoms. The Hollow Hills are the homeland, I suppose, for all Fae. They’re not so much a physical location that one could walk to, but they can be accessed from certain points in the world, usually deep inside mountains or under hills, hence the name. They used to be accessible, anyway. The leaders of the Courts, I guess you would call them kings and queens, came together a couple centuries ago and decided to retreat out of the human world, and back into the Hills. There were a lot of reasons for it, and it’s not that important. I was asleep at the time, so I missed the call to come back into the Hills, and now I’m stuck in this world. No one else can enter or leave the Hills, thus, magic and fae are both increasingly rare, and humans tend to destroy unfamiliar things.”

There was a bitter note to Janus’s voice when he finished talking, and Remus sensed that, perhaps, he’d better move on. “If humans can’t do magic, then what is happening that lets me breathe underwater?”

Janus relaxed minutely. “I was hoping to know myself, actually. The Ocean Goddess gave you her blessing, which gave you some sort of magic that you seem to have some control over, but I don’t understand how that works. Gods and Goddesses, as humans call them, are some sort of very long-lived magical creature that I don’t understand.”

Remus opened his mouth to ask another question, but was cut off by a sharp rapping sound at the shutters of the bakery that startled them both. For a moment, Remus and Janus exchanged panicked glances between each other and the window.

“I should probably-” Remus got up.

“Yes, it would be best-” Janus stood up at the same time.

“Your face-” Remus waved a hand vaguely at Janus and hurried over to the window, though he didn’t open the shutters just yet.

“I’ll just check in on Patton.” Janus nodded and swiftly moved towards the bedroom door, out of sight of whoever waited on the other side of the window.

Remus opened the window and was met with a young woman standing on the other side. She had the same demanding, hard-headed expression on her face that Remus frequently had seen on Roman’s face just before he said something fantastically ignorant.

“Where’s Patton, and is my order ready?” She crossed her arms and looked Remus over.

“Erm, the baker is currently not feeling well. If you tell me your name, I can go ask him where it is?” Remus glanced over at the bedroom door. It was closed and Janus was nowhere in sight. Good.

“My name? You must be the new fisher at the edge of town. I’m Saadie, the mayor’s daughter? I order the same thing every week, so it’d better be ready.”

“Ok, I’ll go ask him where it is. Be right back!” Remus grinned and slammed the shutters in her face.

“Hey, Pat?” Remus walked over to the bedroom door and called through it. It opened up a crack and Janus stuck his head out.

“He says it’s sitting on the counter in a basket, he also says you shouldn’t have shut the window in her face.”

“Right, well, tell him that I did shut the window in her face, and that he should try it because it’s fun.” Remus gave Janus a thumbs-up and went to get the basket from the counter.

He opened the window back up to find Saadie glaring at him. He passed her out the basket, she passed him a small pile of some strange coins, and huffed.

“Maybe you should take Patton to see the healer. Clearly he’s not feeling well if he left _you_ in charge.”

“What a great idea! I think I’ll do just that in a little bit.” Remus grinned as widely as he physically could.

The woman gave him a slightly disgusted look and left without another word.

Remus slammed the window behind her.

The bedroom door opened again and Janus slipped back out. He looked more tired than he had when he’d gone in.

“Going to Logan’s might not be a bad idea. I think Patton needs some alone time right now. If you don’t mind, you could see about taking that horse that Logan borrowed from Roman a couple days ago back? You have full permission to use our house at the lake if you decide to stay the night.”

Remus glanced over Janus’s shoulder at the closed bedroom door and nodded. “I think I’ll do that. I-”

Remus cut himself off and shook his head. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow or the day after.”

Janus nodded. “Safe travels.”

Remus hesitated for a moment before heading to the door and quietly letting himself out. Part of him felt like he needed to apologise, but he wasn’t sure what for. He decided to put it out of his mind and only think on ways to mildly annoy Roman once he arrived at the lake.

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152077/chapters/61059388)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pat is having a Time but he needed to deal with the whole thing where he straight up murdered a guy. Sorry that this ch is so heavy on dialogue and worldbuilding but I gotta set up some things for Janus’s story


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of Remus's story!

Remus arrived at the lake with Lady, the horse that the healer had been taking care of, around midday. Riding a horse wasn’t totally unfamiliar to him, but he strongly preferred the rocking cadence of a boat. However, she was a well behaved horse. Remus could see why his brother liked her so much.

Speaking of Roman, neither Roman nor Virgil had seemed actually surprised when he’d shown up at the lake. Remus wasn’t aware of any future-seeing abilities that Virgil might or might not have, but he wasn’t really sure how magic worked anyway. Maybe all magic was related to knowing things? Remus was barely sure what the hell was going on with his Goddess.

Janus had been right, though. When he arrived, there was a new structure behind the strange hut that his brother and Virgil lived in. It looked like a tall box with a slanted roof and a massive door on one side that swung out into the field. There was a group of chickens scratching around in the dirt within the building, and two goats who looked up at his arrival. Virgil was in the garden, and he simply glanced over and waved at Remus. Roman was lying on his back in the grass and got up once he noticed Remus’s arrival.

“Hey! Don’t take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here? Are Patton and Janus coming later or something?” Roman walked up to him and held out a hand for Lady’s reins so that Remus could dismount.

“They’re having a busy day at the bakery so I figured I’d leave the two of them to manage it. And, I got to drop by that cute healer’s house as a bonus.” Remus grinned at Roman, who looked up from Lady and tried not to glare too openly.

“Yeah, Logan’s great.” Roman’s tone was clipped and defensive and Remus grinned even wider.

“Oh, relax. I’m not going to steal your boy. Thin and nerdy isn’t my type.”

“Good.” Roman began taking the tack off Lady, rubbing her down as he did. “What is your type, anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with anyone.”

Remus felt his grin drop as he mentally went over every barely-secret encounter with fellow crewmates on _The Dragon_ and other ships in his down time, hushed and giggling fling in corners of the docks with visiting sailors while he was grounded at the capital.

“You weren’t looking, then.” He said quietly. He’d done enough yelling at Roman for the week, and he had no desire to make his brother feel worse.

Roman looked crushed anyway. “I suppose I wasn’t.”

Roman pulled Lady’s bridal off and let her walk away from them in search of better grass to eat.

“I don’t have much of a type, I suppose. I just like who I like, and I don’t really know why.” Remus shrugged. “Unlike you, apparently. Short and pale boys, huh?”

Remus shot his brother a teasing grin and Roman huffed.

“Don’t be an ass. Literally everyone here is paler than we are. Also, we’re just exceptionally tall. Neither Logan nor Virgil are short, they’re both just shorter than me. Logan is considered quite tall, actually.” Roman gave him a sideways glance. “Anyway, Logan isn’t really _my_ boy. We aren’t really anything but friends.”

“Yet.” Remus nodded to Virgil’s hut and started walking over, forcing Roman to follow him. “You’ve set your sights on him, though? You and Virgil?”

“I mean, Virgil and I have talked about it? There hasn’t been a whole lot of time for that kind of thing lately. A lot has been going on.” Roman said, pointedly.

“Well, I’ve arrived now. That’s one less thing to be worried about. So, time to get on with making a plan, asking him ou-”

Remus stepped into the shadow of a tree and instantly felt strange. Roman must have felt it too, or at least noticed the expression on his face, because he began to look around.

Remus felt the sound before he actually heard it. It started deep in his chest, a rumble underneath his ribcage that crept upwards into his throat. For a moment, he was gripped with an irrational panic that the sound could somehow make its way into his head and kill him. Then he actually heard the sound, with his ears.

It was deep and rasping, and it sounded like no animal Remus had ever heard. It was sort of like a dog’s bark, but harsher, and with a strange metallic undertone, like the grating sound of metal across a smooth shell. Or maybe the bark of a dog was just the only animal Remus knew to compare it to.

The noise got louder, and Remus felt like he was barely in control of his own body as he turned to look at the source of the sound. Next to him, he saw his brother do the same. Roman’s hands were shaking.

In the twilight, Remus could see the eyes underneath the bush at the base of the tree. They were orange, and disturbingly human. The noise, the growl, faded away and the creature in the shadow bared teeth like a mouthful of splinters, white and practically glowing.

Remus stumbled backwards, away from the _thing_. Roman stumbled into him and Remus shoved him to the side.

“Get Virgil and get inside.” He hissed, keeping his eyes on the thing. Roman, ever the coward, fled.

The eyes seemed to rise when Roman began to stumble away, and Remus panicked. He did the only thing he could think of to keep the attention on him and not his brother. He snatched a fallen pinecone off the ground, back up a bit, and threw it towards the thing. The horrible, horrible eyes turned to him, and came snarling out of the underbrush.

Remus desperately wished it hadn’t.

As it emerged from the bush, the sense of deep wrongness that accompanied the thing’s eyes and teeth and growl only got worse. Whatever it was, it had black fur, and legs. That was all Remus could really say. He wasn’t sure how many legs there were. There could have been four, there could have been eight. There might have been some sort of torso, but that could also just be matted fur. It moved horrifically, as though every single bone in its body was broken in several placed, and sharp points seemed to emerge from underneath the fur in rippling waves that corresponded with its advance. Each indistinguishable foot ended in a set of claws that should have made walking impossible. They were long and curved, thicker than two of Remus’s fingers put together, and appeared to be barbed. They dragged half-rotted leaved and grass behind the creature as it moved in a jerky manner that reminded Remus of marionette puppets, only so much faster.

He stumbled backwards, but the creature kept coming. Remus sucked in a breath, and turned around to sprint for the lake. He didn’t know what the creature would do to him, but he might not die if he was in the lake? His thoughts weren’t particularly organised as he dove into the cool water. Terrifyingly, he heard a splash right behind him, and he turned to find that the creature had followed him in. Remus swam backwards, but the creature was so much faster than he could have guessed. He was briefly grateful he’d turned his back on it to run because, if how it ran was anything like how it swam, it would have been a horrible sight to behold.

The water around the creature churned as its limbs seemed to spasm and Remus could have sworn he saw limbs coming up out of the water at angles that shouldn’t have been possible. The mouth full of bright-white needle teeth gnashed at the water and spat fetid breath into Remus’s face.

Remus kicked backwards, but the creature only followed. On the shore, he heard a commotion and something that sounded like Virgil yelling, but it was immediately followed by a burning pain in his arm. Remus looked down to see the water turning red around it, blood seeping from a wound that the creature must have been responsible for. He looked to the creature again, just as it lunged for his face, and reacted instinctively.

The sharp bone-shards snapped shut inches from his forehead as Remus threw himself under the water. He swam down, hissing all the air out from his lungs and welcoming the water in without a second thought. He swam deeper and deeper, but more pain erupted from his feet and ankles, then started up his calves. The creature had sunk those barbed talons into his flesh and was using that to drag itself along his body.

A strange sort of calm took over Remus, and he bent double in the water. The creature glared at him through the haze of his own blood as Remus reached out and grasped one of the limbs sunk into him. He tore it away from him, and the other claws that scrabbled at his arm didn’t leave a mark. The water was clouded with blood that had to be his, but all the pain felt far away now. He should have been light headed, but instead it seemed like the creature was the one growing weaker. Remus pushed the creature away from him and watched it flounder in the water.

When it began to swim for the surface, Remus knew the fight was over. He relaxed and pushed himself towards the surface in pace with it, though he stayed submerged when it broke above the water and scrambled out of the lake. As it got out, Remus realised the creature was actually bleeding from several of its hind limbs. Confused, he looked down at his own legs and found only smooth skin. They still hurt, but it was… different. It wasn’t a burning pain anymore, or a throbbing pain. It was a dull ache, but one that was matched by a growing ache in his head. His limbs started to feel like weights, pulling him back down, and he barely managed to find Roman above the water before he sunk down into the blood cloud.

“ _Remus.”_

Remus looked around, confused, but his head hurt so much and it was beginning to get hard to keep his eyes open. The voice was familiar, too familiar.

“Mom?”

There was a woman’s laugh, the one he’d heard after the kraken.

“ _I’m not really your mother, Remus.”_

Remus searched the water, suddenly desperate to see his mom’s face, but his vision was cloudy and spotty and all he could see were colourless blurs. He was still sinking.

“Who are you?”

“ _I don’t think humans can pronounce my name.”_

She made a sound that started as a noise in his head and became a sensory experience. Her name was waves on a shore, seashells tossed about in tidal pools. It was storm surges crashing against rocks as lighting sent electricity rippling across the water. Sharks killing fish, dolphins killing sharks, and fish eating the bodies of both. Her name was splintered wood from ships, fishermen hauling up nets, filtered sunlight across a coral reef, and a child splashing and laughing in the shallows. She was every fish and every wave, and none of them at the same time.

“You’re the goddess.”

“ _That is what you call me, yes. I tried to speak to you when you were in my water before, but you were too weak then.”_

“You mean during the storm?” Remus wasn’t sure if he was actually conscious anymore.

“ _No, no. That is my water, but that is not me. You were not with me in the same way when you were there. This water, that you are in now, this is me.”_

She sounded frustrated at him, or maybe at her own explanation.

“When I died, by the sacred pool. Then?”

“ _Yes! Yes, it was when you died.”_

“But I didn’t die. I thought you saved me from actually dying?”

“ _You didn’t want to die, so you didn’t. Now you are like my child.”_

“Is that why you sound like my mom?”

She was quiet for a little while, and Remus started to think he’d offended her somehow.

“ _I am what you call the ocean. I am every part of it. I am the life-giving parts, and I am the death-giving parts. I am everything that lives within me and everything that dies within me. I sound like your mom because she is part of me.”_

Remus barely had a moment to process her words before he was flooded with sensation again.

Fear, and water all around him. The wind was cold on his face, and lightning burned into his eyes. He felt the force of a rocking ship under him, waves that slammed the ship into rocks. Thunder deafened him, but not enough to stop the sounds of sailors crying and screaming and cursing the Goddess as they choked and drowned. He was calm, though, even as he was thrown overboard and into the water. His back hit something hard and he lost feeling in his lower body. He started to swim for the surface but he knew it was futile. His mind drifted to thoughts of Roman, and of himself? Amidst all of the pain, he focused on the love he felt for them both.

Remus realised the Goddess had given him his mom’s final moments.

“ _She asked me to protect you. I barely noticed her, in truth. Individuals are so small compared to me. Humans are hard to tell apart from fish. But she was so calm compared to the rest of them, once I did notice her. She loved you so much. She’s a part of me now, so I also love you. And you have always loved me back.”_

Remus didn’t know how to deal with most of that, so he only dealt with what he could. She was right, Remus did love her back. He’d always loved the ocean. It was the worst part about having to leave his kingdom, and the only thing he truly regretted.

“I do. I’m confused on one other thing. You’re here, even though this isn’t the ocean.”

“ _This is water, isn’t it? It’s like your little pool, it’s a part of me. You are also a part of me. I gave you a little bit of me when I saved you from dying.”_

“So will I always be able to talk to you?”

She laughed, and it was both beautiful and overwhelming. _“Oh, no. You humans are not meant to talk to those like me. It is hurting you to speak to me as long as you have, but I have kept you from the worst of it._ _I should go now, I think. We will speak again, perhaps.”_

“Wait! Goddess?” Remus called out, but he knew she was gone. He was aware of his own body again, and aware of the pain. His legs were fine, but his head was pounding. It was excruciating, actually. And he was still sinking.

He could tell he was drifting downwards, but he was so deep that he could barely see the surface. Or maybe it was just night now and too dark for him to see how close he was? He knew time had passed during his conversation, more time than the conversation had actually taken. He wasn’t sure how or why, but he had a gut feeling that it was true.

He began to swim for the surface, but it was a laborious process. He felt exhausted and it was all he could do to kick his legs, so he didn’t bother using his arms at all. After a while, he felt like he could see flecks of light above him. Stars, maybe.

It actually surprised him when he broke the surface, and he floundered for a bit before figuring out where the shore was. He managed to get to the shore and drag himself up on it. Coughing the air back into his lungs hurt more than usual, and every wracking cough jostled his head and made the pain worse. He felt like he was rattling around inside his skull.

When the coughing subsided, he looked up and found four pairs of feet standing directly in front of him. Virgil had his fists clenched and looked a mixture of angry and relieved. Roman was paler than Remus had ever seen him, and had tear tracks down his cheeks. Patton and Janus were also there, though, and they looked bad.

Janus looked drained and was supporting most of Patton’s weight. Patton’s face was streaked with tears and blood, and he had a nasty swelling bruise on the side of his forehead.

“You’re alive!” Roman’s voice cracked and he inhaled a shaky breath.

“Yeah, I’m alive. What the hell happened up here?” It actually hurt to speak, and it was audible in his voice.

“Why don’t we all get inside first?” Virgil sounded tense and mad, but he offered Remus a hand. Remus let Virgil and Roman haul him to his feet. Remus had to lean pretty heavily on his brother in order to limp into the house.

When they got inside, Roman all but forced him to take one of the three chairs at Virgil’s kitchen table. Janus and Patton were given the other two, which left Roman and Virgil leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Remus and I were walking around the edge of the forest and we heard something growling in the underbrush.” Roman started. “It had to have been that creature, the one that killed the chickens and whatever else. I don’t know what else it could have been. It wasn’t any sort of normal animal, I’ve never seen anything like it. Even the taily-po wasn’t as bad. Its teeth were like splinters.”

“Yep, it was awful. I think we can all agree on that. What the hell actually happened, though?” Virgil cut Roman off, but he didn’t seem to be upset with Roman specifically.

“I told Roman to go get you, and I ran into the lake.” Remus began talking to spare his brother, who looked like he was close to a fresh round of tears. He had to pause to cough a few times. “I went into the lake with the thing, and tried to swim down to escape it, or to see if it would drown. It clawed up my feet and legs pretty good, and that’s when the water got bloody.”

“I saw that. I tried to help you, but there was nothing I could do. We couldn’t even see you under the water, and then that thing came running out of the lake and took off into the forest, bleeding all over.” Virgil crossed his arms. “And then, nothing. We couldn’t tell if you were alive or dead, and you didn’t come back up for hours.”

Remus shrugged. “I don’t know how the creature was injured. As far as I can tell, the water must have healed me and transferred the injuries. But after it left, I was in bad shape too. And then I think I talked to the Goddess? Roman, I think she let me see the moment our mom died. Her last thoughts were of us, and how much she loved us.”

Remus looked up at his brother. The tears started rolling down Roman’s cheeks again, and he silently went into the bedroom and fastened the leather curtain behind him.

“What happened while I was underwater?” Remus looked back to Virgil.

“The creature came to the village.” Janus hissed. “It came to the village, and it started attacking things at random. Doors, walls, animals, and people. It was hurt so badly that I don’t think it could tell the difference. The stupid villagers formed a mob to chase it out, and then they turned on Patton, blaming him for it showing up and for not helping in their blood-mob.”

“They just burst into the bakery and started yelling at me. One of them hit me, and Janus came out of the bedroom to help. You can guess what happened when they saw Janus.” Patton sniffed. “Apparently, I’ve been ‘consorting with devils’. Janus scared them pretty good, though, and they backed off long enough for us to leave town. I don’t know if they’ll try to come after us or something. I guess we’re pretty much banished here, too. Good thing I asked you to build that house for us, huh, Vi?”

Virgil was looking at the floor and didn’t respond right away. When he finally looked up after a few long moments, Remus saw that his face seemed to be glowing faintly purple, and his eyes had taken on a strange sort of glint that made them appear almost silver. Anger sharpened his features and, for the first time, Remus could see the similarity to Janus, how they both looked otherwordly.

“They’re never going to hurt us again. Tomorrow, Remus and Roman can go into town and get your stuff from your house. They can take Baron and the cart. I’ll start building Remus a house here. And Logan, too. He’ll be next, we all know that. I’ll make sure that, if they decide to come looking for us, they won’t be able to hurt us.” Virgil turned and went into his bedroom with Roman.

Remus looked to Janus and Patton.

“Come on.” Janus said, standing up and offering a hand to Patton. “You should come and lie down. Remus, you can sleep on the pine mattress in our house. I guess you’ll be getting better arrangements tomorrow.”

Remus stood up and went to the other side of Patton. He really needed Patton’s physical support more than Patton needed him, but the baker leaned gladly on him anyway. They left Virgil’s house and made their way across the lake to Patton and Janus’s.

“I’m sorry if this comes across wrong, but how come you didn’t see this coming? You’re a seer, shouldn’t you have known about something this important?” Remus said quietly, when they were about halfway there.

“No, I was never going to be able to see this coming.” Patton sounded deeply weary and sad. “That’s the cost of being able to see the futures of everyone in the world, if I chose. I can’t ever see my own. Janus is the same way. He can’t ever see his own past. It’s why it wouldn’t do any good for me to tell anyone other than Janus about my visions, or try to change anything I see. How could we change the future of the world, when we’re not really a part of the world?”

Remus didn’t know how to respond to that.

They went inside, and he watched Janus help Patton into the bedroom, then softly close the door behind him. Remus settled down on the pine needle mattress in front of the fireplace. He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but for now, he was exhausted. His brother, and the other people that he would tentatively consider his friends, were safe for tonight. Therefore, everything else could wait until the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m actually a little sad that Remus’s story is over now because I actually really enjoyed how I ended up writing him. I hope y’all didn’t find him too OOC or anything. Also lol sorry to Patton for making his life so difficult. He really just cannot catch a break with me. Anyway, I am going to be taking a bit of a hiatus to plan out the next two stories, just like I did in between Patton & Virgil’s stories and the twin’s stories. I do have an avatar au for another fandom that has been sadly neglected thus far that I want to work on, but with quarantine ongoing I may very well end up only taking a short hiatus before I get bored and start writing for this series again.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated so much!! Also if you want to do fanart, or literally anything at all, you don't even need to ask just tag me or something when you're done so that I can see it and be excited  
> As always, you can find this fic on tumblr at [sanders-sides-entwined-au](sanders-sides-entwined-au.tumblr.com)


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